Posted on 01/06/2022 10:06:13 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In response to two jurors revealing that they were victims of sexual abuse, Ghislaine Maxwell will request a new trial. Their experiences guided other jurors to convict her.
The move became known during a rush of court filings on Wednesday after two jurors were interviewed, Scotty David and a juror who chose to remain anonymous. During the interviews, each of them admitted that they spoke of how they were abused with other members of the jury during deliberation.
A reporter asked David if he remembered the question in the juror questionnaire that specifically asked potential jurors if they or any family member or friend had been the victim of sexual abuse. He answered that he could not recall that question. However, he insisted he answered every question ‘honestly.’
Maxwell’s attorneys however argued that whether an omission was intentional or not does not matter in their latest letter to Judge Alison Nathan. Having occurred, it is sufficient ground for calling a mistrial and convening a new trial.
‘The Supreme Court has held that to be entitled to a new trial, “a party must first demonstrate that a juror failed to answer honestly a material question on voir dire, and then further show that a correct response would have provided a valid basis for a challenge for cause,”’ Maxwell’s lawyers said.
A lawyer was appointed for David by prosecutors on Wednesday.
Challenge for cause is a process that allows attorneys to remove prospective jurors who are unable to render a fair and impartial decision.
‘This standard applies even if the juror’s conduct was merely inadvertent and not intentional. Ms. Maxwell… intends to request a new trial under Rule 33 because the “interest of justice to requires,” Maxwell’s lawyers continued.’
As Maxwell’s lawyers previously stated in an earlier filing, they have ”incontrovertible’ grounds for a mistrial.
A jury member in the Ghislaine Maxwell case is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney General after publicly admitting that he ‘flew through’ the juror questionnaire and ‘could not remember’ revealing that he had been abused.
The letter, which was filed with the Federal Court on Wednesday, came in response to interviews in which David discussed his confession of having been abused sexually as a significant turning point in their decisions.
In an unusual move for a juror, the prosecutors have asked that David be assigned an attorney, signaling the belief that he may have committed perjury or broken another law.
In an interview Wednesday, a second juror expressed the opinion that sharing his story led uncertain jurors to conviction.
Scott’s reports were called a ‘disaster’ by one expert, and Maxwell’s conviction may be thrown out in the near future.
Those words would constitute both perjury and ground for a mistrial, according to lawyer and legal commentator Neama Rahmani, who co-founded the California law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers.
‘This is why prosecutors cringe when jurors talk to the media after a guilty verdict because jurors may say something that may overturn the conviction,’ Rahmani said.
Maxwell’s defense team filed two letters on Wednesday, one of which described “an issue of pressing importance.”
The letters read in part: ‘It has come to the attention of the defense that one of the twelve jurors in the case (the ‘Juror’) has been giving oral and videotaped interviews to various members of the press concerning the jury deliberations.
‘These interviews have been publicly reported in several media outlets. Among other things, the Juror told a reporter that he disclosed to the other members of the jury during deliberations that he was a victim of sexual abuse and further described his memory of those events. According to the Juror, his disclosure influenced the deliberations and convinced other members of the jury to convict Ms. Maxwell.’
Defense attorneys for Maxwell have urged the judge to rule on this issue before considering any of the other motions.
‘Should the defense prevail on this motion – and we believe the law and facts are clearly on our side – it would render all other post-trial motions moot. Ms. Maxwell should not have to expend precious time and resources briefing other motions when this motion can and should be dispositive,’ her lawyers said.
In an interview with reporters, David was asked whether he discussed his own experiences of sexual abuse in the jury questionnaire he completed ahead of his selection.
David told reporters, ‘No they don’t ask your sexual abuse history. They didn’t ask it in the questionnaire.’
It turns out that question 48 in the juror selection questionnaire asks, ‘Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault?
(This includes actual or attempted sexual assault or other unwanted sexual advance, including by a stranger, acquaintance, supervisor, teacher, or family member.)’
Jurors had three choices in which to answer: Yes (self) Yes (friend or family member) and No.
A reporter asked David about this and he said that he ‘definitely remembered’ filling out the questionnaire on the very first day of selection and he said, ‘I would have definitely marked, “Yes”. But I honestly don’t remember the question.’
‘I definitely remember a [question about a] family or relative or something being sexually abused. I was honest on all of my questions.’
Experts state that Maxwell’s attorneys could seek a mistrial or have her convictions quashed if David did not disclose his personal background.
It took two days to select the jury, with jurors completing a questionnaire on day one. During this stage, some jurors were dismissed while others were called for ‘voir dire’ so they could appear before the judge. At this point, both the defense and the state had the opportunity to interview jurors in greater depth.
A potential juror can be rejected without giving a reason by both parties who have a limited number of peremptory strikes.
Peremptory strikes are not needed if the judge agrees to dismiss a juror ‘for cause.’ This occurs when there is some reason that renders them incapable of serving as a juror or of being impartial.
This process would have been seriously impacted if Maxwell’s attorneys were unaware that a juror had a history of sexual abuse.
Regarding the voir dire stage, David told reporters that the question about his sexual abuse was, ‘never raised.’ ‘We went in front of the judge and there were all the lawyers in the room and that’s where they asked me some questions. They asked me what I do, what I like to do for fun. And if I can be fair and impartial and it was literally like 30 second long and then I was out of the room.’
After sharing his own story on day three of deliberations, David revealed that another juror had been abused or assaulted, but he did not elaborate.
His testimony as a survivor made the room fall silent when he revealed his history, and he said that his experience as a survivor helped him to better understand, and explain, the experiences of the victims, especially in relation to memory and defense expert witness Elizabeth Loftus’ testimony regarding false or implanted memories.
David said in an interview that he went through the questionnaire quickly.
In response, the government wrote to Judge Nathan, who presided over Maxwell’s trial and conviction, regarding David’s public remarks.
‘The Government has become aware that a juror has given several interviews to press outlets regarding his jury service in this case. While the Court instructed jurors that they were free to discuss their jury service with anyone of their choosing, some of the statements, as related in the media, merit attention by the Court.
‘In particular, the juror has described being a victim of sexual abuse. Assuming the accuracy of the reporting, the juror asserted that he ‘”flew through” the prospective juror questionnaire and does not recall being asked whether he had been a victim of sexual abuse, but stated that ‘he would have answered honestly.’
Following that, a court-supervised investigation is requested, along with scheduling a hearing within one month.
Wouldn’t that have been the first question asked of potential jurors during jury selection? ...or was it purposefully not asked so they could ask for a mistrial?
This was probably the plan all along. Now a judge can dismiss the charges altogether “in the interests of justice”.
And I still want to know who Epstein’s customers were.
“And I still want to know who Epstein’s customers were.”
That’ll never happen.
RE: Wouldn’t that have been the first question asked of potential jurors during jury selection?
It was. In fact it was part of the questionnaire for jurors. It looks like two of them lied.
RE: “And I still want to know who Epstein’s customers were.”
Also, I still want to know if Epstein really killed himself.
You will find that out when the CDC releases records of the mRNA Vaccines trials. 22nd Century.
I am assuming each potential juror had to sign the questionaire that asked if they had had any prior sexual abuse.
If so, I would assume both of these jurors will be prosecuted for perjury.
Sounds like they believe it was asked. But it would not surprise me, if it was not asked, more likely due to lack of oversight than purposefully.
I once served on a jury, where they never asked about whether any of the potential jurors had relatives in prison or relatives convicted of violent felonies. It was a murder trial. They DID ask many questions about attitudes about police, some about political leanings, some about people being or knowing victims of crimes, etc., but I was quite surprised they did not ask about having family members incarcerated.
Sounds like perfectly clear cause for a mistrial. Like it or not.
...and if I was a serious attorney, the fundamental nature of this would've prompted me to make damned sure by asking them out loud.
Unless:
It was asked. The juror checked the "no" box on the jury questionnaire.
Nope. Max the judge can do is order a new trial.
It shouldn’t be hard to pull his juror questionnaire and see what he answered.
If he lied and then influenced the verdict it’s going to be a mistrial.
“””I smell a rat.”””
I will only smell a rat if the two jurors are not prosecuted for perjury.
The odds that both alleged victims of sexual abuse are male seem a bit high.
You signed the Jury form under penalty of Perjury on every Jury I was on. It was under or above the signature line. But as stupid as people are today, they probably ignore it.
Somebody is still operating under the erroneous assumption that we still have a fully functional and uncorrupted judicial system in this country.
Hi.
In a related matter, who besides the FBI have the videos conficated from Epstein’s mansions in NYC, Palm Beach and his island? Have chain of custody protocols been maintained? Have the videos been secured and catalogued?
Oh, and Maxwell didn’t kill herself.
5.56mm
We already know the answer to that question.
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